Cracking post Lee, it does get easier mateā¦honestā¦theres some bloody tight yards about..... dont matter how many shunts you take as long as it goes in with no damageā¦everyday is a learning day 
Happy Keith:
Off thread a little, but I understand that it might contravene āregsā to have signs/names, etc in front windows. Iāll stand correction if Iām out of order, though I appreciate your name is pronounceable, has a reasonable quota of vowels and isnāt riddled with random zāsā¦I donāt want to spoil your evident confidence. However, if a prang spoiled your day Iād not want Plod or the TM to have any extraneous ammunition with which to nab me if I was only mildly culpable.
Just a thought ; )
That apart, nice wheels and see you out there.
iām not doubting you or anything keith but how can a number plate with my name on it contravene regs? it is sat behind the dashboard where you can hardly see it from the drivers position ( i have my seat as high as it will go with my feet touching the floor and i am a tall fella, 6ft 4") so there is no question of it creating an additional blindspot, as this would not be an issue if you were of shorter build and had your seat lower.
i know some companies dont like them but personally i think they brighten it up a bit and in a pretty plain old cab you can see who is driving.
The amount of people that have said āhello Leeā while i have been doing multi drop is amazing. (sometimes i have dumb moments and wonder if they do know me then i realise 
)
cheers for all the comments of support people, i just hope i can get another run in it this weekend, if i get waitrose again it SHOULD be a bit easier but we will have to wait and see. the way i see it is that if i can master the tight bays with out causing damage or injury then the others shouldnt be a problem.
Well done mate, iām in the same boat as you. 
Things do get easier with time and practice. Iāve found the best way to go about reversing is not to worry about it, get out and have a good look and work out the best way to get onto the bay. Take things nice and easy and take a shunt if needed, If you remember back to your test, take a shunt to your advantage no point in taking a shunt and ending up in the same position I also find that if you let the incoming goods staff know your a new driver they try and get you on an easy bay and give you plenty of reasurance, like " take your time mate, no rush".If your at a really tight spot, then ask another driver for helpā¦if he wonāt help then heās an arse!
As for the MAN, iāve used them a few times and they arnāt the best. 
If you have to do more than a few shunts it always comes up āClutch overload shift downāā¦As if your not under enough pressure!
Great post mate and good luck!
Regards Smokinbarrels 
Sounds like you had a good day. Well done.
The Autobox in the MAN has 2 positions for reverse, but I guess you spotted that. I use the one marked āMā ( I think itās an M, tāas been a long day).
Itās a lower gear, and ideal for manoeuvres which need to be taken slowlyā¦, and stops the unit lurching.
As for the ABS lights on the dashā¦ As they only appeared part way into your journey, I would say the sensors on the trailer need cleaning or changing as they get full of dust and dirt which goes hard. Therefore preventing the sensors from working properly.
This happens to my trailer, usually after Iāve gone over a bump in the road. A job for the workshop.
Also a triaxle trailer is easier to manoeuvre than a tandem.
Looking forward to the next diary. Keep up the good work.
Well done mate ! good diary and pics ,as everyone else has said the more
you drive the easier the reversing will come.
Great post.
like others have said, take your time with the reversing, or any manoeuvre that you might be worried about. youāll be surprised how quickly you forget to worry about it and it becomes second nature.
When I first started I told the goods in or āunloaderā that it was my first ever time out in an artic. mind you I told them that every where I went for the first month 
just to cover myself if I made a mess of it.
Donāt get too stressed about the reversing thing, just take your time thatās what Iām doing with it.
If Iām going to reverse into a side road or entrance Iāll swing in to the bellmouth and out again to get some angle on the trailer before bending the unit slightly. Just as I stop Iāll give the wheel a turn of opposite lock and the trailer will start off going in the right direction when I start to reverse.
What happens next does seem to vary (I blame the wind direction) but mostly Iām getting it to go more or less where I want it to.
Curious about the tandem / tri thing as Iām struggling more with the trailer when itās a tri with the lift axle down. Iām guessing that as a tandem it has got a bit of overhang like a rigid whereas as a tri thereās not really any.
Iām guessing that a trailer with single axles will be more responsive than one with twin axles such as my lowloader or a double decker.
Nice one Lee! Excellent post mateā¦looks like you āenjoyedā your first outing in an artic.
I still remember my first few trips in the big 'uns, even though itās over 20 years ago, Iāll never forget the feeling of sheer terror that some fool had let me loose in a loaded (then) 38 tonne truck!
Itās important to relax and enjoy yourself whilst driving. Keep on trucking big 'un!
dont worry too much about those warnings you get on the dash gibsla.
i have driven plenty of new trucks that do the same.
ignore them and hope they go away.
as for reversing with the automatic box and clutch.
its hard work and i have 35 years of drivingbehind me,you got no controlwhen you need to accelerate a little while backing on a loading bay.
tip the throttle and next you hear the bang when you hit the ramp.i cant understand why they didnt put a clutch pedal in like in the scania.
and dont worry about how many shuntsd it takes to get on a loading bay,
remember,we all had our first day,your no different.
some of us if we tell the truth still have bad days.
its hard to get used to backing on with that auto clutch though.
you will get there in the end and laugh to yourself.
happy driving.
Quality post, an experience never to forget,keep up the good work!
Cracking read there Lee
Good post mate. You got there and back and didnāt hit anything so job done. Donāt worry about taking your time till you get used to it. If any drivers give you grief ask them if they were born with a class one, any rack stackers in the warehouse start giggling throw them your keys and tell them to have a go. Iāve been doing it a few years now, but still ā ā ā ā up sometimes - usually when other drivers are sat in their cabs watching me. BTW are you still in the navy and doing this part time, or are you outside now?
Great that, you can sense your enthusiasm for it. Nothing better than looking forward to going to work.
My 1st day on artics, was a 50ā trailer with 55ā beams on, into the middle of Newcastle. Thanks to my good friends in the Transport office at Potto 
i see these wagons alot no name or anything, any 1 no anyhing on them??
Regarding the reversing situation with a tri-axle Giblsa, you will probably find that when you are reversing on an uneven surface like the one in your photo you will find that the trailer will try to pivot on whichever axle is carrying the most weight (i.e. the one on the highest bump) and this will make it come round more than you expect and not turn smoothly as it would on a level surface when all axles are carrying similar loads. Tandem axles behave in the same way, but obviously you have only got two axles for it to choose which one to pivot on and which one to scrub.
Just my take on things.
As others on here have said, take your time and never be afraid to ask, nobody was born with the experience, we all had to learn sometime.
I hope you enjoy the job as much as I did when I was on the wagons full time, instead of driving an ungrateful public around on the buses.
mark h:
i see these wagons alot no name or anything, any 1 no anyhing on them??
Donāt know how you landed that question here Mark but its Warren Warehousing and Distribution. Do mainly cakes, buscuits and the like to RDCās> They have a base on Swift Valley in Rugby and one in London, maybe some more too.
Edit to add, i do know how you landed that question here !! Wake up Mike !!!
mark h:
i see these wagons alot no name or anything, any 1 no anyhing on them??
i have seen a lot of them at riches picking up cakes/muffins/bread. i think they used to do a lot of marks and sparks until salvesons took it over, now i think they do the sainsburyās run, but i could be wrong about the sinsburyās
bilgepump,
i am still in the mob but will probably be leaving in about 12 months so do it on the weekend to get experience before it starts paying the bills, instead of buying the laptops, 42" tvās and class one course!
cheers for all the advice fellaās, it will all be noted and probably forgotten next time it comes to reverse and i get all flustered again!
I was going to start a separate post but decided against it
Well people, I have just had my second day on the artic, this time doing a delivery to an industrial estate near Heathrow (the one just down from Saints and where Watkins are round the back, it is Gallymead road?) and I guess everyone was right.
I had to go and do a turn in to a side road to get where I needed to be. It went well, I didnāt kill anybody or damage anything and it was a blind side reverse. I have worked out where I went wrong the first time, on your test you only turn the wheel a tiny bit, in real life you need to Wang it round to start to turn enough then sort it out. It worked a treat, there was one hairy bit where I hadnāt seen a brand new blue Mazda 6 parked on my left, it was blocked by the trailer swing, but luckily I noticed it just as it was about to go mimic a crumpled bit of paper. So one quick shunt and it was sweet.
Had the typical forklift driver with attitude as well, had a single pallet on the back (all the others were secured with bars) that was within his forks reach but he shouted lift it! My reply was āhow the ā ā ā ā can I lift it, itās got 5000 muffins on there!ā I pointed out he should lift it with the tip of his forks and drag it. He replied, āit will slipā I replied, ābow locks itāll move, Iām also a forklift driverā he went a funny shade of red then and just got on with it! The ā ā ā .
When I got back I was asked by the boss if I could move a trailer they use for storage. I said ok and then went all sweaty, just thinking about it. I remained calm and dropped my trailer (thinking of Rog and BLANK) and then had to do a coupling at an angle (donāt know what itās called properly) but luckily it was a Christian Salveson trailer with a sliding bit for the air lines. Did it ok and my reversing and positioning was spot on, I was well chuffed!
Dropped that one and had to couple back up to the one I had dropped earlier, this is where I had problems. Did all the checks even though I had only just dropped it (you canāt be too careful) and got lined up for the reverse to connect the unit. Reversed up and had a massive clunk, tried to do a test pull and just drove out. Tried it a further 3 times and got the same result. I jumped out and had a look, my turntable was just slightly too low for the pin. Raised the suspension and did it, clunk quick test pull and wheel spin! I guess Iām hooked up now!
To say that my confidence has taken a major boost is an understatement. I am a lot happier reversing now and would be quite happy to give anywhere a go!
Cheers for all the advice and support.
I will keep you posted
nice diary mate, and well done! no damage thats the main thing, and as the others have said, it doesnt matter if it takes 1 or 100 shunts, doing it without damage to anyone is the most important thing, if any smart arses come out moaning about the time its taking, hand them the keys and tell tthem to do it, it all comes with practice, it does get easier!